Cycling-Schleck vows to get revenge after losing chain

Andy Schleck
vowed to exact revenge on Alberto Contador after finishing
behind the defending champion following a mechanical problem in
Monday's 15th stage.

The Saxo Bank rider started the day with the race leader's
yellow jersey but his chain jumped off shortly after he launched
an attack near the end of the 19.3-km ascent to the Port de
Bales.

He was passed by Contador, who eventually gained 39 seconds
after riding flat out with fellow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez and
Russian Denis Menchov to take the yellow jersey by eight
seconds.

The Luxembourg rider said he felt Contador and the other
riders should have waited.

"I was feeling very good and I had a mechanical problem, I
lost time, it happens, I won't cry, I lost the jersey but it's
not over," Schleck told reporters. "My stomach is full of anger
and I will take my revenge.

"It's not really nice but what can I say," added Schleck,
who said Contador, Menchov and Sanchez would not win the "fair
play prize" for their move.

Contador, who waited for Schleck when he crashed in the
second stage to Spa, dismissed the criticism.

"Some people understand and some people don't. I knew there
would be a controversy," the 27-year-old said after being booed
by some of the audience while he was on the podium to take the
yellow jersey.

'ALREADY ATTACKED'

"But I had already attacked when I learnt about the
incident. The race was out. We had already stopped in Spa.

"This time, it was impossible to stop the race at that
stage. We could not repeat what we did in Spa. I was not alone
in the front and nobody stopped."

He said he understood that Schleck was disappointed but felt
that the day's events did not change anything.

"I don't think the Tour will be won or lost on the 30
seconds I took today," he said.

The controversy was top of the Twitter worldwide trending.

"It's not over, the Tour is just starting, it motivates me
for the Tourmalet (Thursday's stage with a mountain top
finish)," Schleck said.

"I don't think I would have wanted to take the jersey in
such fashion."

Schleck's Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis said: "Fair play or
not, it's hard to tell. He (Contador) waited a bit at the
beginning, then, I don't know. Too bad."
(Editing by John Mehaffey and Sonia Oxley; To query or comment
on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)